Fulfilling Void
by Angie010
Summary: This story takes place during ME3. It will dive into the lives of Shepard and her crew and their efforts at retrieving all of the war assets to help fight the war with the Reapers. Will Shepard allow failure to encompass her? Main game missions might be incorporated. And Of course whats a good story without some Shenko? Rated M just to be save. Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is just something that I had floating in my mind for a few days and decided to bring the thought some life. Not sure if I want to continue the story. Let me know your thoughts and any advice! Thanks

* * *

Shepard entered the Normandy sweaty and exhausted from the Cerberus raid. To her surprise everything went smoothly. Shepard, Garrus and Liara located several of the Reaper tech devises with no effort at all, even with the constant flow of Cerberus men attempting to stop them; they flew through the mission with ease. Of course in no small part to the wonderful combat chemistry that seemed to flow expertly between the three of them. This was a much needed boost to the crews moral. Lately things haven't been going as Shepard had hoped. Udina was forcibly shot and killed by Shepard's own doing; and if Major Alenko wouldn't have ended up trusting the Commander she would have been pressured into shooting him as well. This she would have never been able to live with even if doing so would save the council members and keep Cerberus from fully controlling the Citadel.

The commander decided to check up on Joker before heading up to her quarters for a much needed shower. She had been recently swarmed with things that needed to be done and hadn't been able to check up on her favorite pilot.

"Hey Commander, nice work down there! It feels good to finally sweep a win under our belts." Joker sent a small smile towards the Commander, knowing all well the amount of stress she was under.

"Yeah, it sure does. How's everything up here? I hope EDI's not bothering you too much with all of her human behavior questions." Shepard replied with a wide grin on her face knowing all too well that she was.

"Yeah, about that Commander… You should visit the cockpit more often. Some of her questions are way above my pay grade!"

Shepard let out an overly animated laugh and began her retreat towards the elevator, shouting back a response. "Well maybe if you answer some of the questions correctly we'll give you a raise!"

"Really? 'cuz that'd be sweet!"

Shepard shook her head and grinned to herself as she entered the elevator.

While stripping off her clothes, she felt a cold chill run down her spine. Her cabin always seemed to have a cool draft; standing in front of her terminal naked only confirmed her suspicions. She quickly checked if she had any new messages and if any of them were marked urgent. To her surprise none were, so she decided the ones she did receive could be checked later. She quickly walked into her bathroom and turned the shower nozzle to blazing hot. Since getting the Cerberus cybernetic implants, normal warm water temperature just never did it for her anymore. The temperature of the water that hit the spot for Shepard would surely burn the skin of a normal person. This thought seemed to always slightly depress the Commander, only reminding her that she could never truly be her old self again.

She finished her shower with a quickened pace, remembering everything that needed to get done. Wrapping a towel around her body she stepped out of the shower and walked down the short flight of stairs over to her dresser, which held a clean uniform. But before putting on her uniform she grabbed her favorite hot pink laced bikini underwear. These were the ones that barely covered her ass, but supplied a ton of comfort, perfect to wear under a stiff uniform. As she slipped them on and felt the fabric slowly slide up her legs and finally stop at their designated place, she let out a soft moan. Not fully remembering the last time she was touched down there. This only further frustrated her. As she was about to grab a matching bra from the metal drawer, she heard her door hiss open. Fully prepared to inflict a gentle biotic push on the intruder she hesitated as she saw who it was standing in the doorway.

"Commander I was hoping I could… Oh, shit I'm sorry." Kaidan hastily retreated out of the room, but not before Shepard caught a glance of his face quickly turning bright cherry red. This placed a wide grin upon her face as a giggle escaped her lips. Just as she was thinking about her sexual frustrations, her ex-lover strides in seeing her half naked, perfect!

Getting dressed as fast as her exhausted limbs would let her, she made her way over to the door and was surprised to find Kaidan patiently waiting. She noticed that his face had returned to his normal slightly tanned color.

"Commander I apologize for intruding like that. I should have at least knocked or had Joker let you know I was coming up. It won't happen again."

His formality not going unnoticed, Shepard decided to mess with the Major's head for a bit. See where his feelings currently lie. It had only been a few days since he asked Shepard if he could join the Normandy's crew again. They barely had the time to discuss their personal lives and where they currently stood.

"Sounds like that's set in stone, I wouldn't have mind another intrusion like that and maybe next time I won't be the only one who's half naked." Her seductive smile escaped her lips and she could see the Major shift his feet uncomfortably, not fully knowing how he should respond. Before he even had the chance Shepard piped up. "Why don't we carry this conversation in my quarters, shall we?"

She motioned for him to enter; hesitantly he did, making his way over to the couch. He shot a glance toward the wet towel that was now lying in place where Shepard just seconds ago stood half naked. When he rudely barged in he happened to get a quick glimpse of the outline of her breast, and that ass, this was normally enough to set him off, but the situation between them had yet to be resolved which left him with no clue as to where they currently stood. He shook his head and resumed to the reason why he came up here in the first place.

An hour had passed by as they began to come to an end to their conversation regarding additional improvements that could be made to the Normandy. Which they now hope would help improve their chances for the upcoming fight with the Reapers. Shepard was glad that he asked to come aboard the Normandy not because she still had strong feelings for him but because his skills and valued experience were hard to come by these days.

"Well, I think that's all I wanted to discuss with you, if you'll excuse me." He got up from the all too comfortable couch and started to make his way to the door.

"Kaidan, wait." He stopped in his tracks with his back facing her. "Please, stay." He could hear the slight hint of desperation that trailed her voice. He could never deny this side of Shepard, the side that rarely ever showed its face to the light. A side that was buried deep inside her, one that he only fully experience once in all the time he'd known her.

Seeing that he wasn't moving, Shepard slowly got up and made her way towards him. She lightly placed her hands on both sides of his back where his ribs were. She could feel his muscles tighten under her slight touch, and then relax as he let out a slight sigh. He had forgotten how her touch felt comforting against his body. He missed it. Noticing that he didn't protest she slightly deepened the grip, moving her hands to his stomach, she could feel his new addition of abdomen muscles. Her lips slowly let off a smile as she stepped slightly forward allowing her body to be flush against his back fully embracing him in a hug. He dropped the information pad that he was holding in his hands and placed them on top of hers. He couldn't bear to let himself protest her hug, he longed for her touch too much. Closing her eyes she tried to soak in every second of this precious moment. Breathing in she smelt his musky scent, the one that she adored so much, one that she will never forget.

Slightly Kaidan shifted around so he could face her. "I missed you." The words came out as a soft whisper.

Shepard smiled, "I've missed you too." He tightened his grip around her forcing her to look away and place the side of her face firmly into his chest. Kaidan let out a soft sigh and lightly kissed the top of her head.

"And here I was trying to be all professional with you. Boy did that backfire." A slight chuckle slipped out of Shepard's mouth.

"I'm glad it did," she paused, leaned up on her toes and kiss Kaidan's lips. His grip tightened around her waist as he deepened the kiss. Shepard managed to break open his lips and quickly slide in her tongue. Kaidan let out a husky moan as he mirrored her talented movement. Feeling his heart beat increase rapidly. Shepard's hand slowly slid from his upper back to his chest then further down until they made it to his belt. She began to unbuckle the belt with a quickened desperate pace.

"Uh Shepard, sorry to interrupt, but we're just floating around in space for almost two hours now with no destination what-so-ever. So I was wondering when you were, you know, going to set one?"

"Joker I told you the Commander is busy!" EDI voiced her frustration

"Yeah, well excuse me, 'mom' but we're running low on fuel and I prefer not to be floating around in the Terminus System, who knows what could be out here!"

Kaidan let out a soft laugh as he loosened his grip, "déjà vu?" His gaze rested on Shepard's light red brown colored eyes. A very unique color, one he had never seen on anyone until he met her.

She rolled them, clearly annoyed, "Yea, thanks for the reminder Joker."

"Just doing my extremely underpaid job, ma'am." A hint of sarcasm traced his voice; Shepard closed the comm before anymore comments were heard from his end.

"Well, another classic rude interruption made by the all too famous Jeff "Joker" Monroe." She slipped out of the loving embrace and made her way to the bathroom mirror. She made sure she looked presentable removing the displeased frustrated look off her face and replaced it with the 'Commander Shepard' façade. As she stepped out of the bathroom Kaidan gave her the once over and let out a slight laugh.

"What? Is there a problem?" Shepard quizzically looked at Kaidan.

"No, it's just; it always amazes me how quickly you snap back into the Commander mode. It's very impressive. If I was a random person and glanced over at you now, I would have never guessed that you were about to get thoroughly fucked."

A loud gasp escaped Shepard's mouth as shock encompassed her face. She never experienced this side of Kaidan before and yet something inside of her kind of enjoyed it. Kaidan merely let out a loud husky laugh.

"Shall we?" He held out his hand for her to grasp as he led them out of her personal quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Just so all of y'all know, I will have some of these chapters flow together kind of like a continuous story line up to a certain point. My hope is that I will find time to try and update every week or so from now on. **

**Enjoy! Or not, choice is yours :]**

* * *

Chapter 2 Boxing

"Vega you do realize that I am at least 5 years older than you."

"Hah, try 10!"

Shepard playfully shoved the lieutenant's shoulder. "And with age comes great experience, wisdom, and major skills that will help me kick your ass in a boxing challenge." Shepard let out a stunning proud smile which happened to make the young lieutenant blush a bit. She noticed the sudden change in color, realizing the kind of affect she had upon him.

"How 'bout you stop yapping and put your skills to the test, Lola." He let off a playful grin.

The two enjoyed a little flirting here and there, after all it was harmless. In actuality Shepard could never see herself settling for someone so young. There was something else about him that didn't quite resolve with Shepard aside from the age. Maybe it was the fact that he was so flirty, or maybe it was the intensity of his muscles. Despite whatever it was Shepard respected the man for his fire filled passion and energy but he simply just wasn't her type.

"Alright Vega, let's go me and you two rounds, loser buys everyone a round of drinks at Purgatory." Excitement rolled off Shepard's shoulder, she was ready to put the young lieutenant in his place, once and for all and she knew this was going to turn out being very interesting.

"You're on!"

"Personally I think you'll beat his ass Commander." Cortez overheard the whole ordeal and simply could not resist ticking Vega off whenever an opportunity arose itself.

Kaidan enjoyed spending time alone in the Starboard Observatory room. To him it was peaceful and calm, just what he needed to help sort through everything that had happened in his life for the past couple of months. A lot had occurred that had both frightened and excited the Major. He got Shepard back from the dead and managed somehow to begin patching things up with her, but the Reapers were still out there. Having a quiet peaceful room to himself was exactly what he needed.

Realizing that he was starving, he began to rise up from the lounge chair. The book he was reading slid off his chest and landed beside his feet on the floor. Bending down he picked up the book and placed it on the side table by the chair. As soon as he bent down he felt a sharp pain escalade to his head, a migraine was coming shortly. Flicking off the lamp, he decided to head out and meet with the Doctor to get some meds before the pain became too unbearable. He made his way to the mess hall and realized something felt off. He paused mid step a few feet away from Chakwas's door, looked around, and noticed that everyone was gone. Kaidan's heart beat began to flutter and quicken in pace, he felt his biotics tingle to life, quickly he rushed into Chakwas's office, only to find her sitting there casually whisking away at her work.

With realization that someone had walked into her room the Doctor turned around in her chair to see who it was that entered.

"Ah, Kaidan, it's nice to see you. How have you been lately?" She smiled peering up at him through her reading glasses.

"How- How am I? Chakwas, you do realize that everyone is missing, there's no one out there." He pointed out her window to the missing crew. "Where are they?" His voice steadily rose until he was slightly shouting by the end.

The doctor peered outside her windows and realized what he was so concerned about. She smiled briefly at the Major, forgoing his rude tone before responding. "Have you tried the shuttle bay? I heard Shepard is putting on quite a show down there!" She quickly winked one eye at Kaidan. Leaving him confused and concerned at the same time.

Without saying a word Kaidan turned around and rushed out of the doctor's room and headed toward the elevator, completely forgetting about the medication he needed. As soon as he made it to the elevator he entered and clicked the last level to the shuttle bay. Questions were racing through his head. She's putting on a show? What kind of show, one large and entertaining enough for the whole crew to be watching. His heart started beating faster in anticipation, he felt the elevator slow to a stop and the door slid open. A small breath escaped his lips before he took a step into the bay.

"Shepard, no one said we could play dirty." Vega's breath was staggered, trying to slip away from Shepard's attempted uppercut, while voicing his concerned opinion.

"Sorry my biotics tend to flare up when someone sneaks in a cheap shot to the side of my face when I'm distracted, Lieutenant!" Shepard managed to shoot a glare at Vega before sliding in a soft punch to his side. He took the hit with no complains.

"Hey, it's not my fault Garrus got a little too excited on the side line," his attention quickly turned to the Turian, "Hey thanks for that by the way!"

Garrus simply shrugged his shoulders; he wasn't so much focused on the fight as he was at the pile of money that had seemed to double since he first placed a wager on the Commanders win. Anyone foolish enough to place a bet against the Commander was going to be very disappointed. He's seen the Commander fight, she rarely ever holds back, even if it's a friendly duel.

Tali was next to Garrus ignoring the growing pile of money in front of her, she was simply there for the entertainment and to show her moral support for her dear friend. Liara was leaning against the railing surrounding the Shuttle with her arms crossed around her chest, smiling to herself in pure amusement.

"Enough talking Vega and more boxing." Shepard smiled briefly before almost getting sucker punched in the stomach, leaving her momentarily distracted. Vega managed to grab a lock on her wrist; her heart beat increase an increment, but she quickly managed to refocus and performed _Nikyo _on the Lieutenant. Grabbing onto his hand, with her free arm, that was grasping her wrist she twisted his arm forcing him to drop to the ground on his knees in slight pain. Shepard expertly managed to quickly twirl to her right while still grasping his wrist causing her to be flush next to his body, he forced the lieutenant down to the grown while digging her knee into his shoulder blade inciting a brief shout of pain from Vega, as this movement forced his whole arm to bend backwards and cause him to face plant the floor. She quickly straddled his body holding him in place.

"Had enough yet Lieutenant? Cuz' I hope you know I've got a lot more up my sleeve where that came from." Her lips were barely gracing his ear as her voice was low and seductive; something about a one on one duel seemed to turn her on the slightest.

Vega managed to slip his arm free from Shepard's hold as he grabbed her waist and flipped her on her back in one swift movement, placing his weight gently but securely upon Shepard's body. To say that Vega was the slightest bit turned on would be an understatement. If there wasn't a crowd surrounding them at this moment, he'd be sure that his pants would be extremely uncomfortable right now as inappropriate thoughts raced in his mind.

Shepard's eyes glistened with excitement feeling the weight of Vega on her, she attempted to squirm her way out of his grasp, but it was too tight. Feeling defeat and slight embarrassment creep up upon her shoulders, panic sunk into her bones briefly. Flashing back to her N7 training, immediately she remembered what to do to get out of this predicament. A small devilish smile pulled at her lips.

"Now, have you had enough yet, Commander?" A teasing tone came out of Vega, as his eyes shone with pride which distracted the Lieutenant from noticing the slight demeanor change in Shepard.

"Not quite!" Her arm was flush against her body but she managed to loosen the grip he had on it. Quickly, before he had a moment to react, her hand shot up around his upper thigh and straight to his crotch. She didn't grope him, but simply laid her hand there, staring straight into his eyes without hesitation.

Shock flashed across James Vega's face. He had no clue how to react to the sudden move that Shepard threw at him. His body temperature rose about 10 degrees as his face started to slowly turn a bright red color. Mentally cursing himself because he knew he couldn't control any of this.

The crew of the Normandy, whom were paying close attention, suddenly became extremely quiet, some even letting out a slight gasp at the boldness of the Commander. All of them anticipated the next move. The only thing heard were the deep breaths coming from the Commander and Lieutenant. Everything else, everyone else was silent.

In this quiet moment, Liara's attention switched to the now opening elevator doors, glancing back she noticed Kaidan's arrival. Within seconds Liara saw his manner shift from being slightly nervous to shock and anger. No doubt he noticed where Shepard's hand rested on the poor embarrassed Lieutenant. She quickly reacted and made her way over to the Major before he could intervene.

Exactly the reaction the Commander was hoping to incite, she took advantage of this moment. She flung the lieutenant off of her body and once again he was flush on his back. This time the Commander was on one knee beside his torso. She knelt down by his face before speaking.

"How do you like them apples?" A bright smile appeared on Shepard's face as she rose up and raised her hands into the air accepting her glorious win. A moment passed as the crew slowly registered what happened, and then they erupted loudly chanting her name as if this was a real match in an actual boxing ring.

Liara noticed that Kaidan's emotions were overwhelming his rationality as he began to inch forward. Wanting to make his way to his Commanding officer, he completely ignored her presence beside him. She placed her hand gently on his arm holding him back. "Kaidan, before you do anything you'll regret, think of the position she was under."

As hard as he tried to keep his voice neutral, he failed, letting out a slight harsh response, "Excuse me?"

"What I mean is, almost all of the crew is down here watching Shepard, there's no way she would be able to accept defeat, especially with her being the leader of this war. The moral of the crew needs to stay high for the sake of the mission, seeing their commander in defeat would only lower it." Liara's eyes begged him to not cause an unnecessary scene. As he began to process what was said by Liara his emotional demeanor slowly slipped under his expertly held neutral façade, nodding his head he let her know he understood, "Thank you Kaidan." She lightly squeezed his shoulder as she made her way to the elevator before the crew had a chance to use it.

Shepard's eyes flew to every one of her crew members nodding her thanks for their supportive cheers. Before she turned away from the crew to help Vega up on his feet, her eyes briefly glanced over to the elevator where she spotted Kaidan. His attention was focused on her; she noticed the flicker of anger that escaped his neutral appearance before he turned his back and hailed the elevator with a push of a button. This she knew was not going to be a fun discussion with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm not completely proud of this chapter, but I reassure you it does lead into a more exciting one, and hopefully even more exciting ones after that! As always, thank you for the new follows, favs, and reviews. Please keep them coming! I appreciate every single one of them.**

**If ya'll have any suggestions, thoughts, or tips please do not hesitate for it can lead to the enhancement of my writing.**

**With that said, Enjoy or not, the choice is yours! :]**

* * *

"Joker you weren't down there, you didn't see the way she dealt with the situation she was under!"

"When you say situation, you're really meaning Vega, right?" Kaidan noticed that Joker could no longer hold in his amusing laughter.

"Jeff…" the seriousness that Kaidan expressed in his tone caused his friend to turn his chair around to face him.

"Oh I see pulling out the Jeff card now hmm? I hate being the ships psychiatrist," whispering the last part more to himself than Kaidan.

"I just don't know how I should react to this. Should I be pissed off at her for what she did? Or should I accept it without discussion? I just feel like sometimes I don't know her as well as I thought it did." Kaidan glanced away from the pilot swept by a distant memory, but quickly shook it off.

"Well for starters, don't go off yelling and accusing her, she's under enough stress as it is. And maybe that's your problem. You haven't made an effort to really talk to her about the things that happened between you two. Believe it or not she could really use someone right now to just hear her out; EDI's saying she's been having constant nightmares every time she tries to get some shut eye." Kaidan's expression darkened in pain once Joker revealed the truth about the sleepless nights and threatening nightmares that Shepard was dealing with.

"If I were you, I'd suck up my pride and doubt and just go talk to her, ask her how she is." With that the pilot turned his chair around, silently letting on that he was done with the conversation.

Kaidan stood there, slowly beginning to grasp what was told to him by his friend. She was having nightmares? She did look more exhausted now than he's ever seen her before. But why wouldn't she just come to him for support. They had history together, history that meant something, well, at least it used to. No it still does mean something, otherwise why would he be fretting over the situation that occurred with Vega. Kaidan began to realized just how much he doubted Shepard, not just because of her past with Cerberus, but with well, everything. In fact he realized that he doubted himself as well, doubted that he could ever fix things with Shepard, that she even still had the same feelings for him as she once did. His thought was interrupted.

"As much as I like having you around to chat with Kaidan, your kinda creeping me out just standing there staring at nothing. Can you do that, oh I don't know, somewhere else?"

"Uh, yea, sorry Joker. Thanks for the advice; I'll try not to bother you again with my personal problems in the future." Kaidan began to retreat out of the cockpit and toward the elevator. His thoughts began to consume him entirely that he just barely heard Joker's response.

"Yeah, I'll believe that one… hah never." He scoffed.

Once in the elevator he instinctively hit the crew deck button, now that he was alone with no one to attempt to provide any distraction, his earlier migraine that was forming hit him with full force. It felt as if a freight train was smashing into his head repeatedly. Perfect timing, it was almost as if the universe was trying to give him a sign, _think about this before you attempt to rush to find Shepard and confront her about everything. _The elevator doors slid open and the harsh light of the hallways cause Kaidan to let out a deep unnerving breath. He stumbled out of the elevator with his eyes barely open and a hand extended out in front of him providing a little bit of protection and support. Finding the wall that lead straight to the med bay he let his hand drag along it, using it as a guide. He attempted to try and not look like he was in extreme pain for he did not want to appear weak to the crew, regardless if it wasn't his in particular. He heard laughter coming from behind the elevator structure; he quickly attempted to force his eyes to open as much as possible along with straightening out his back. He recognized the laughter, heard it once before on the SR1, rounding the corner his suspicious were confirmed. Tali and Garrus were sitting at the table with his hand in hers, both giggling at what was said a few minutes earlier. They barely even noticed the Major standing there staring out of disbelief.

"Uh, hey Kaidan," both their hands darted out of each other's grasp as Garrus acknowledged the Majors presence. "Are you okay? You look like your about to pass out or puke, or maybe both. I'm not sure."

"It's definitely a puke face." Tali retorted.

"I don't know, it could be both, I mean his face is pale, yet it has a twinge of green to it. And the way he's squinting his eyes, he could be holding back something." Garrus's mandibles flare out as he let out a laugh. This immediately caused Kaidan to wince; the small echo that was caused by the large room didn't help much either. Tali playfully pushed Garrus's shoulder in an attempt at being flirty.

Kaidan tried to voice his congrats for the newly formed couple, but his voice was barely audible coming out raspy and rough. "C-congrats, you t-two…. Good couple." He gave them a thumbs up, staggering around attempting to turn toward the med bay. He thought to himself, he actually gave Garrus and Tali a thumbs up for becoming a couple; he never did that to anyone, ever. He retreated to the med bay taking with him his tattered pride before he really did pass out in all of his puke. The doors whooshed open.

"Doc… I-I need…" The lights around him began to go dim, tunnel vision was creeping into his sights, this was a bad one, and he needed to lie down, and fast.

"Kaidan!" Chakwas rushed over to the Major just in time before he collapsed to the ground. She grasped one of his arms and wrapped it around her shoulder, baring most of his weight upon her tiny fragile body. She awkwardly carried him over to one of the medical beds as he plopped himself down, the doc was relieved from not having to shoulder the weight any longer. She hadn't noticed up until now the amount of muscle that the Major had packed on since the SR1 days. Pushing this thought aside she rushed over to where she kept the strong sedatives and inserted it straight into one of his neck veins. The easiest spot that she could administer the sedative in such a rushed time that would also release the drugs into his system at a heightened speed. This caused an instantaneous reaction. Within seconds the Major was passed out and sound asleep. She did a thorough scan of his body and noticed that the migraine most likely arose from heightened cortisol that was coursing through his body, which was released from his adrenal glands no more than 2 hours ago.

"Kaidan, not you too, ugh. Alliance should start following Turian philosophy. Sparring to relieve stress, brilliant!" She couldn't help but laugh a little to herself.

"How is he Chakwas?" Fear encompassed her voice as her body trembled a bit.

"He's going to be fine Shepard; just had an extreme migraine is all. No permanent harm done to his body." The doctor gave a reassuring squeeze before she turned around and left the med bay.

Shepard was finally alone with Kaidan but only this time, it wasn't how she was expecting it to be. He was sound asleep and there she was standing there with worry etched on every square inch of her sadden face. She couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed, for she in fact did contribute to his migraine. After speaking to Joker to ask what their conversation was about, she felt a bit awful for keeping him in the dark and not fully explaining the situation that occurred with Vega. But she also thought that Kaidan knew how she felt about him, there was no other man that could ever replace him, and there never would be. She loved him dearly, seeing him lying there on the medical bed caused her to realize that this game of who's going to talk and open up first needed to end. Sure they shared a passionate kiss in her cabin 2 weeks ago, but they hadn't really discussed all of the issues that happened in the past, ones that desperately needed to be deliberated.

Shepard gently grasped Kaidan's hand in hers and whispered, "I am so sorry Kaidan, for everything." She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. As she was about to place the kiss upon him, Kaidan turned toward Shepard while opening his eyes, and before she could quickly react she ended up planting the kiss on his lips. A bit embarrassed she pulled away from him, blushing.

"If you wanted to kiss me, all you'd have to do is ask." A small smile crept onto his face. Realizing Shepard still had her hand in his she began to pull away, but Kaidan held on refusing to let go and instead intertwined his fingers into hers.

"I-sorry about that, I meant to kiss your cheek, and then you woke up." She finally looked up from their hands and into his eyes. She missed waking up and having his beautiful chocolate brown eyes greeting her in the morning. "How are you? Garrus and Tali told me you looked like hell, and that you gave them a thumbs up, what happened?"

"Honestly, one minute I was perfectly fine and talking to Joker, then the next I was barely able to hold myself up without hinging over in pain. I don't know what happened, just sort of hit me. As for the thumbs up, I… have absolutely no explanation for that." His face reddened from the slight embarrassment. He scooted over on the bed and patted his free hand in the empty space, indicating for her to sit down. Shepard sat down next to him, and realized that her feet were a bit exhausted from standing all day.

"But you're okay, you feel fine now?"

"Yea, guess all I needed was a good rest." He reassured her.

"Good, cuz' I need you to be healthy enough to be able to cover my left flank at all times Major. Otherwise, I think all of my missions would result in failures without you there covering my ass." She joked wholeheartedly and didn't fully realize what she said until she said it.

Kaidan let out an enticing laugh before replying, "I don't think I've had the pleasure of completely covering your ass yet, Shepard. Unless you count that one time during our long shore leave after defeating Saren, when you were sticking your ass out at me in a taunting manner and I just couldn't-"

"Okay! Yea, I remember! No need to go into details about that intimate moment, Jokers probably listening." He smiled a devilish grin, one that caused her to deepen her already blushing face.

"Sorry to interrupt Commander," EDI's voice rang in, "But Hackett is on the line and needs to talk to you urgently. It's about Cerberus; he found something that may help with the Crucible."

Kaidan couldn't help but let out a laugh over the perfectly timed coincidence. "Well Shepard it wasn't necessarily Joker but, I'd say you have a sixth sense."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Alright, thanks EDI, let Hackett know I'll be there shortly." Before the comm link shut off the two heard Joker fussing in the background.

"Awh, EDI! Kaidan was about to reveal juicy details! You're no fun."

It was Shepard's turn to let out a laugh, "He's never going to change will he?"

Kaidan simply shrugged his shoulders in response, too preoccupied with trying to recover from laughter.

"Well, seems like I'll be needing you to cover my ass yet again, you up for it?"

"For you, always."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Bioware owns all.**

** Enjoy, or not, the choice is yours :]**

* * *

**The Battle Field**

Garrus's heart beat was increasing with every step he took. He could feel his muscles begin to tire, he was arriving to the brink of exhaustion, but he kept on pushing. If not for himself then for Shepard, she counted on him more now than ever. He was not only her reliable friend but her right hand out in the field, whatever she said to do; he did it without any hesitation.

He was beginning to see the destination that Shepard pointed out to him, the rocked wall was a bit smaller than he would have liked. It did not provide much cover for the known incoming Reaper forces but there weren't many other options out in the open grass field. Garrus noticed Kaidan quickly approaching his position to his right, assigned by the Commander, giving him a quick nod before reloading his sniper and assault rifle.

Within a few seconds Garrus heard the first Reaper approaching, "Dammit, it's too soon!" he spoke over the comm, "Shepard, we have incoming Reaper's, they are flocking to our position sooner than we anticipated. Get your ass over here now!" Shots were being fired, he looked over at Kaidan and noticed that he flashed up his barrier and began returning fire. Garrus peaked around the protection of the rock wall, 7 to 8 marauders had already made their way to their position. He threw a grenade over his shoulder and it landed in a precision strike, badly injuring 4 of the marauders. Quickly Garrus took his assault rifle and killed 3 out of the 4; Kaidan managed to throw a biotic pull toward the fourth Reaper and used his pistol to end its life. Steadily the Reapers kept filling in, at this rate Garrus knew that they would be overrun and they'd lose this valuable position.

"Shepard, I wasn't kidding, we need you now!"

Gun shots were heard on the other end of the comm line.

"I heard you the first time Garrus; I'm dealing with a bit of resistance on my own out here."

Kaidan's voice rang in, "Do you need help commander?"

"No! Do not lose that position, do whatever you can to keep it. I am almost done with these puppets; I'll be there in 5." With that she shut the comm, preventing anymore distractions from the two worried soldiers.

"You heard the commander, let's give it all we got Major!"

Kaidan didn't reply to the comment simply nodded his head toward the Turian, worry began creasing across his face. He continued using his tech and biotic skills with pristine excellence.

Garrus was more determined now than he was a few minutes ago, Shepard needed their best effort, and he would do just that. He began to set up his sniper rifle, within seconds he loaded a round, and quickly came out of cover and shot a Reaper Batarian straight through one of its many eyes. It keeled back and another quickly came by to eat or suck up its energy, Garrus didn't know exactly what they did, but he did know that it made the others stronger whenever they performed the act. Quickly Garrus used overload on one of the Batarian's knocking out its shield protection. Within seconds Kaidan used his warp and a few rounds from his pistol and the Batarian Reaper was down.

Something caught Garrus's attention; he heard slight footsteps from behind him. There was one set that sounded as if the person or thing was running full speed, and then another that left a heavier impression and was more widely spaced than the latter.

Garrus turned around just in time to see Shepard hauling her ass over to the two soldiers. Her attention wasn't toward Garrus and Kaidan, instead it was focused behind her. The Turian's eyes widen at the sight of what was chasing her and how many.

Two brutes were hot on her trail; one of them seemed relatively injured while the other was in full health. Shepard managed to slide over a formation of rocks but her quick movement barely rewarded her, the brute simple stepped over the rocks gaining more distance on Shepard.

Then it all happened so suddenly, Shepard turned around in attempt to throw a full forced warp at the injured brute, but she was closer than anticipated. The brute smashed its large arm into Shepard's side knocking her off her balanced posture and caused her to skid 20 feet away. She let out an excruciating cry, one that sent Kaidan over the edge. Witnessing it all and lacking in response, he finally registered the severity of the situation and released a mixture of biotic and tech on the brutes. The injured one went down without a single gunshot fired from the Major. Seeing Shepard get knocked out cold caused Kaidan to give out on his control momentarily as he released every ounce of trained force upon the Reapers in this moment. He knew he was going to regret it later, but that didn't matter.

Garrus witnessing all of this was shocked and impressed to say the least, quickly he ran over to where his commanding officer was, picked up her body, and took her to the small protection of the rocks. Immediately he was on the comm hailing Joker. Their mission was a bust, they did not accomplish what they set out to do, but it didn't matter. Their Commander was down and needed assistance immediately.

"Joker! We need an immediate evac now! The Commanders down, and we are being swarmed by Reaper forces."

"I hear yah; we'll be there in less than 5 minutes. Just sit tight and find some cover, I'm coming in with guns blazing."

Garrus immediately positioned himself in a protective manner over the Commander's unconscious body, fully preparing himself for the blasts. Glancing over at Kaidan, Garrus saw that he had dealt with the other brute and managed to nestle himself between two rock formations. He looked exhausted and in pain. Blood was rapidly gushing from the side of his face, and his flush red color was becoming increasingly pale with every second gone by.

Before Garrus had the chance to call out to him over the comm, explosions from the Normandy shook the area, causing bits of rock and debris to fly everywhere. Garrus quickly covered his eyes and buried his face into the Commanders shoulder, in a hasty attempt to shield not only himself but her as well. And as fast as the blasts arrived, everything fell silent.

"I am not going to wait all day for you two. Your immediate evac is here and ready as per your request." Joker couldn't hold back his attempt to try and lighten up the mood.

Garrus removed himself from his protective posture and hauled the Commander over his shoulder as carefully as possible. Once he got on board he placed the commander on a gurney where Doctor Chakwas waited impatiently and began to run tests with her Omni tool.

Suddenly he realized that Kaidan was not beside Chakwas running the same tests on his Omni tool in an attempt to reassure himself that Shepard would be okay. Something was wrong; the Turian swiftly rushed in between two Alliance soldiers and ran out to the field in search of the Major. He glanced over to the last position he saw him in and noticed the blood smear on the rocks, but no Kaidan. Garrus ran over to that position, behind the now dead brute and breathed a tiny sigh of relief for he was not missing. He saw Kaidan lying in a pool of blood unconscious. He quickly placed some Medi-gel on his wide and deep gash across his cheek and picked up the limp Major.

"No, no, no, no! Don't die on me Kaidan. She needs you, don't die." Whispering more to himself than to Kaidan, knowing fully, the amount devastation it would cause Shepard to lose him yet again. He sprinted toward the Normandy while hearing awful screeches from behind him.

"Garrus, hurry your ass up! Get the Major inside now, I have a reading of incoming Reaper forces, and this time its double the count than before!"

"I am coming, just get ready to get our asses out of here ASAP Joker!" His breathing was ragged and exhaustion had finally hit him full force but he pushed that aside. He would wallow in the pain as soon as he got both of them on board.

Gunfire whizzed past Garrus's head, the Alliance soldiers returned firing shots at the Reapers. They aimed and shot down the rampaging husks that were making their way toward the Normandy. Finally Garrus made it to the Cargo hold of the ship and the door slowly began to close.

"Hold that thought Joker!" Liara came rushing out of the elevator fully clothed in her armor. "Hackett has informed me that it is extremely urgent that we retrieve the Reaper tech within the building ahead. It would drastically cut down on time needed for the construction of the Crucible. Losing this will set us back and I won't let that happen."

"Wait, Liara you can't be serious? You heard Joker, Reaper forces are coming and it's double the amount of what we dealt with just a few minutes ago, and we are down two soldiers because of it!"

But something in Liara's eyes told him that she wouldn't budge on this one. He noticed the patiently waiting medical officers in the corner of his eye. Realizing that he was still holding Kaidan, he placed him gently upon the awaiting gurney. He whispered his apologies and ordered the Major to stay alive and recover fast. Before the two officers could leave he asked one of them for a stim. He sure as hell wasn't going to let Liara do this without him despite his exhaustion.

"Garrus, what are you doing? You are in no shape to accompany me." She extended her hand out to take the stim away from him, but he pushed her away and injected the liquid into his body. Just like that, his exhaustion dissipated.

"There's no way I am letting you go out there without me at your side."

A smile flashed across her face as she patted his shoulder in appreciation. Liara noticed Vega was growing slightly impatient wanting desperately to join the battle. "Vega, suit up your coming with us."

"Hell yes! Been itching for some action ever since Alenko came on board and practically replaced me." He began to place his armor on in a heightened manner.

Garrus glanced over at Liara. The doubt that tainted his expression was slowly slipping away at the realization of the urgency of the situation they were placed under. For Liara to stray from Shepard's command and take it upon herself to lead Garrus and Vega into heavily fortified Reaper forces, meant that this artifact is indeed of extreme importance. The determination in Liara's demeanor swept away the remnants of doubt that Garrus had and he knew that nothing would stop this team from retrieving the artifact.

"Let's do this."


End file.
